Elias plans to play

Patrik Elias, who missed the Devils' last two games with a tight groin, took part in the full practice this morning at Prudential Center and will probably play in Friday night's home game against Philadelphia.

"It looks like it right now," Elias said. "Unless I get really stiff tomorrow morning, then I'll be in."

Elias said he felt a little tightness in his groin during practice, but "as long as it doesn't get worse, I'll be in."

Right wing Arron Asham also took part in the full practice after missing Wednesday's win over Florida while recovering from the flu and said he's ready to play Friday. "It's a game against Philly, so, hopefully, they'll put me back in there," he said.

Devils coach Brent Sutter also said he expected to have closer to his full lineup, "unless something unforseen happens later in the day."

Elias went back to centering the top line with Dainius Zubrus on his left and Brian Gionta on the right wing. Zach Parise went back to playing with Travis Zajac and Jamie Lanngenbrunner and John Madden returned to the checking line with Sergei Brylin on his left and David Clarkson on the right side. Sutter said he expected that Noah Clarke and Barry Tallackson, who both practiced with the Devils today, would be returned to Lowell if everyone stays healthy overnight.

Defenseman Johnny Oduya wore a protective visor after being struck below the left eye with a puck that deflected off teammate David Clarkson's stick in the second period on Wednesday. Oduya took six stiches below the eye and three more to the left of it. He had some swelling around the eye today, but not enough to affect his vision. He said the doctor recommended that he wear the visor at least temporarily.

"It's a little bit of swelling and you don't want to get hit in there again," Oduya said. "Hopefully, I'll get used to it and keep it."

Sutter said he would probably go with the same six defensemen against the Flyers (with Sheldon Brookbank sitting) as on Wednesday, but said the coaching staff hadn't made its final decision, yet.

Getting back to the alternate captains, Sutter said Jay Pandolfo would have worn the second A Wednesday if he was not still out with his pubic bone ligament injury. "This was Pando's and (Colin White's) month," Sutter said.

Sutter has a plan for who would get the A's for the remainder of the season, but would not reveal it today.

Today's forward lines and defense pairings:

Forwards: Zubrus-Elias-Gionta; Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner; Brylin-Madden-Clarkson; Rupp-Pelley-Asham; Clarke-(empty)-Tallackson.

Defense: White-Mottau; Oduya-Martin; Vishnevski-Greene/Brookbank.

Comments

[MoonDragn]

Its great that Elias and Asham are healthy enough to play, but I would have loved to see more of Noah Clarke. I think he's got something special that we need on this team. I've been high on him since I saw him play in one of the preseason games and I think he's got a future with the Devils.

[Pat D]

I wonder if we'll ever get a permanent roster before the seasons over.

[DevsForLife]

I think we should hold on to Clarke for a while, he did rather well. I was at the game last night in section 216 and I was impressed by his goal. I think he has earned a temporary spot until we get back our injured players. I hope Cam can get back in though...

[matt]

Clarke should DEFINITELY get another shot, rather than have Rupp play.

[MoonDragn]

From reading analysis on Clarke, apparently he's not very good defensively. Maybe thats why Sutter switched him with Pelley.

But he's playing in NJ now and if any team can teach him to play defense, it would be this one.

[Devilswede]

After the game he played last night, he definitely deserves another shot. Understandably Sutter has more confidence in Pelley, because he knows what Pelley brings every game...defensively. Clarke didn't look out of place last night, except for that bad line change that led to Florida's 2:nd goal. But you can't fault Clarke for that. I think he should stay up, but I guess against a team like the Flyers, Rupp is a better choice because of his size. His play has improved lately too. Whatever the coach says right?

[dannyd]

i finally got to the prudential center last night and i have to say, after bashing him for a while now, that i thought it was the best game i've seen zajac play in a while and i wish sutter would keep together that line of zubrus-zajac-langenbrunner (BTW zubrus has been playing great lately), since that would then allow sutter to reunite the line of parise-elias-gionta which played so well together for a stretch...also i agree with everyone else saying clarke deserves more time, though not at the expense of Rupp who, like devilswede mentioned, has been playing better (especially last nite)

[Danofan355]

You know what I wish? I wish that Sutter would leave Zubrus-Zajac-Langenbrunner together and put Parise-Elias-Gionta together again. The zzl line played very well last night and it would be nice for them to get some chemistry. It would also be nice to see if Parise-Elias-Gionta still have the bit of chemistry they showed the last time they played together.

[Sarah]

I agree with you Danofan. I've loved what I've seen from both of those combos in the short times Sutter's left them together, and that leaves Madden-Brylin-Clarkson to play together, and they were playing fantastically for a handful of games over Christmas. I think Clarkson and Madden need to stay playing together as well.

Glad to see Pando's getting the A whenever he gets healthy. Any new news on when that might be, TG?

[TG]

Pandolfo is still not skating, so it appears it will be a while.

[Craigwell]

Rupp is beginning to play the way he has demonstrated in the past when given a chance at more ice time. It was the same last year when do to an injury, he played a game or two on the second line. I remember him scoring a couple of goals from in front of the net, and throwing a couple KO punches.

I say leave this team along until the All-Star break and see what happens.

The lines are starting to settle, let's see what Patty does with another shot at Center.

[Craigwell]

Rupp is beginning to play the way he has demonstrated in the past when given a chance at more ice time. It was the same last year when do to an injury, he played a game or two on the second line. I remember him scoring a couple of goals from in front of the net, and throwing a couple KO punches.

I say leave this team alone until the All-Star break and see what happens.

The lines are starting to settle, let's see what Patty does with another shot at Center.

[alzheimers]

Just want to re-emphasise what everyone here is saying. Sutter needs to give these lines time to build some chemistry, and stop the micromanagement. The last time the lines really gelled, we won nine straight. Then he went and futzed with the lines and we lost 3 of the next 4.

The only real wildcard on the team is Parise. He's the playmaker, and it seems like whichever line he's on is the #1. Whtether it's with Gionta and Elias, Zajac and Zubrus, or Madden and Langenbrunner, when he's on that line he makes everyone around him better. I think it's time to put him into one of those slots and LEAVE HIM THERE, unless forced to change by injury or circumstance.

As for Clarke, I think he's going to languish on this lineup unless something drastic changes. Tallackson can go back down to Lowell and stay there, but Noah will have to fight for a spot on this roster with bigger guys like Rupp and Pelley, and until he gets a chance to prove he can be consistent he'll always be the odd man out. It's a shame it'll take an injury to get him in the lineup, but that's life. Against more physical teams like Goonadelphia, they need the size of guys like Rupp (6'5, 230) who can drop the gloves. The Devils are finally getting the size back into their lineup, they just have to play consistent physical hockey or else all that size does is take up space on the 4th line.

I'm looking at you, Clarkson.

[JJ]

They changed the lines when Pando got hurt, demonstrating how valuable he is to this team once again.

Parise can play with anyone because just doesn't stop moving his feet. I think I see what Sutter's doing with two skater/passers and a grinder to cause chaos in front. With defensive schemes and coaching being so good these days, and all the matching up of lines it's not a bad idea to shake things up and give it a different look when things get stale. Come playoff time maybe guys can then be comfortable playing with anyone as Zach seems to be able to.

[justin]

any word on cam jansen?

[Scott731]

People look for some reason why the team struggles or doesn't win and have pinned mixing up the lines as the reason but it was really more the players performing poorly than not knowing who their linemates were. A bunch of games were lost and it wouldn't have mattered which players played where because they all had lackluster nights.

The big plus of having the lines changed up is that everyone knows how to play with almost everyone else at this point. This way if a guy gets hurt in the playoffs the players are less likely to miss a beat with the lineup getting changed.